Pubdate: Friday, October 17, 1997 Source: Halifax Daily News Contact: Author: CHRIS LAMBIE The Daily News Website: http://www.hfxnews.com/ Judge's son faces marijuana charge The 27yearold son of Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Gordon Tidman was released yesterday on cash bail after being charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. James Tidman was arraigned in Dartmouth provincial court Wednesday under Section 5.2 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, said Halifax regional police Const. Gary Martin. He was arrested earlier in the day, allegedly in possession of 5.5 kilograms of marijuana. Tidman has pleaded not guilty. "He just came home from Vancouver to get married," Justice Tidman said last night. "We were just at his wedding rehearsal .... He's getting married on Saturday." Justice Tidman said James lives in Vancouver. He has a university degree, and has been working and doing demonstrations in British Columbia for a snowboard company. "He's a young fellow who has given his mother and I nothing but joy until this came up," said Justice Tidman. "This is a first for anything like this." James Tidman who came home to Nova Scotia the morning he was arrested is marrying a Halifax woman he has lived with "for some time," said his father. If James Tidman is found guilty of possession for the purpose of trafficking, the penalties "are all over the place," his father said. If a person has no criminal record and his father says James does not he could get anything from a fine to probation to a suspended sentence "or worstcase scenarios are jail sentences," said Justice Tidman. The whole family was shocked by the charge, he said. "It's not something that you expect or that you appreciate; but these things happen."